Alcoholic cider sales booming across U.S.

2 local restaurant operators plan Chicago sites focused on drink that made its mark in U.S. before Revolutionary times

July 08, 2014|By Jessica Wohl, Tribune reporter

Ben Walker, of Chicago, shops for cider at Binny's at 1720 N. Marcey St. The alcoholic drink, made from fermented apple juice, is staging what some consider to be a long overdue comeback in America. (Nuccio DiNuzzo, Chicago Tribune)

Cider is typically served cold, but it is one hot drink.

The alcoholic drink, made from fermented apple juice, is staging what some consider to be a long overdue comeback in America, aided by the country's top brewers launching ciders and armed with hefty marketing budgets.

At the same time, smaller cider-makers are securing money for expansion, two local restaurant operators are planning Chicago locations focused on the drink, and there's even a biannual magazine dedicated to the beverage, called Cidercraft, that launched a few weeks ago.

Cider was popular in the United States even before Revolutionary times. But it lost a lot of its following when immigrants from Germany and elsewhere introduced beer to the United States and when Prohibition kicked in. It wasn't until 1991 that Vermont Hard Cider began making Woodchuck, which went on to become the country's top-selling alcoholic cider for years.

Today, hundreds of ciders, with tastes ranging from sticky sweet to crisp and dry, account for about 1 percent of the total U.S. beer market. Some people in the industry expect that percentage will soon be 3 percent, 5 percent or higher.

In 2013, as Aaron Zacharias was trying to figure out what kind of pub to open in a newly acquired space, cider broker Brian Rutzen suggested an establishment focused on cider.

"Opening a bar dedicated to it just makes sense," Zacharias said. "How is there not one at this point?"

Sales of cider are growing much faster than other alcoholic drinks, even craft beer. Industry experts attribute the growth to several factors, including that people are eager to try a wider variety of flavors in what they eat and drink. At the same time, apples are gluten-free, and gluten-free drinks have gained wider appeal.

Zacharias' company, Real Pubs and Kitchens, has seen people drinking more cider at its establishments, The Bar on Buena and Fountainhead.

"Over five years, for us, sales of ciders have doubled," Zacharias said.

So he plans to open The Northman, a cider-focused pub, this fall at 4337 N. Lincoln Ave. in Chicago. Cider will take center stage, with 18 to 20 varieties on tap, plus an additional 80 or so for sale in bottles and cans. Rutzen, as its cider director, said he plans to showcase ciders that mainstream drinkers probably have not heard of.

The group behind the Farmhouse Tavern restaurants is also working to find a space for a cider-focused restaurant, to be called NordCider, said partner Diane Mulligan.

Even a big craft brewer in the Chicago beer scene has switched to making cider.

In 2011, Greg Hall left his post as brewmaster at Goose Island and founded Virtue Cider. His decision to start a cider company essentially coincided with the sale of Goose Island to Anheuser-Busch, and it surprised some people who expected him to stay in the beer business. After all, his father, John Hall, founded Goose Island.

"It was funny, it's not that long ago, but so many people were completely perplexed when I said I was going to make cider. Cider wasn't out there yet," Greg Hall said.

In its first year, Michigan-based Virtue Cider pressed about 20,000 gallons of cider, selling it in Chicago and other markets.In 2013, it pressed about 120,000 gallons, and this year Greg Hall expects to press more than 200,000 gallons.

"I believe that a case could be made that in 10 years, cider will be bigger than craft beer," he said.

The volume of cider sold in the United States grew more than fourfold from 2008 to 2013, while beer volume declined, according to data from Euromonitor International. Cider was a nearly $1.32 billion industry in the United States last year, and Euromonitor expects cider sales to jump 43 percent this year.

One reason for the growth is the marketing budgets behind three of the largest cider brands in the country: Boston Beer Co. Inc.'s Angry Orchard, which launched nationally in 2012; Smith & Forge, made by MillerCoors; and Johnny Appleseed, made by Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's largest beer company.

"The big brewers really sat out craft beer for about 20 years, and I think they don't want to make the mistake with cider," Hall said.

Johnny Appleseed's April launch came roughly a year after AB InBev introduced Stella Artois Cidre, a European-style cider. AB InBev said that Johnny Appleseed was in development since 2011 and that it purposefully took its time, working with more than 750 millennials to figure out what they wanted.

"It's striking when the iron is hot," Eli Aguilera, marketing director of high-end brands at AB InBev, said of the launch of Johnny Appleseed.

Aguilera would not disclose marketing spending but said AB InBev has been "pumping tons of money on advertising and awareness." In June, it created a massive ice luge in Boston for a promotional event. It also plans to have new variants or a sampler pack out by November, Aguilera said.